how difficult is the belt tensioner to replace?

[frusciante fan]

i had a friend check out what was making this noise occasionally on my car and he said it was probably the belt tensioner. i see they run about $25, but how difficult are they to replace?

[fargo_182]

On What Engine?

Do you have spaghetti arms? they might come in handy

[TeeJay3800]

I know its very easy on the 3.1.

[frusciante fan]

3.8 series II in my f-body. the serpentine belt is easily accessible.

 

and would i have to replace the belt as well?

[frusciante fan]

http://www.wtfba.org/temp/tensioner.htm

 

y helo thar

 

looks like i found it

[pwmin]

look before you post. tisk tisk tisk

[frusciante fan]

i've been thinking, since i'm broke as all hell, and christmas is right around the corner, and i still have yet to buy anything...would i be able to let this go for a while? it's not a very loud noise and was apparently inaudible to my friend when he started it the other night.

[TeeJay3800]

It's probably not a crititcal issue. As long as the spring isn't totally shot and can still tension the belt enough, it should be fine. The only thing may be slightly higher belt wear, but they're cheap so no big deal.

[pwmin]

it will be ok for a while if its not bad just dont forget about it i had the same problem and it was tearing up my belts. stranded me once too. first i thought it was the udp then the balancer. was stupid of me not to check that but the belt felt tight. it got worse and worse

[frusciante fan]

that leaves me a nice chunk of money leftover that i had budgeted out for that. 8)

 

i cannot wait till tax returns. to date this year i've made around $9,500. not bad for a kid who's still in high school.

[GP1138]

It's easy as hell.

[Crazy K]

reach down and grab the tensioner. Try to wiggle it side to side. it it has much play, it needs replacement asap.

But the best thing to do is release the belt and spin and shake/wiggle all the pulleys to see what's making the sound for sure.